A Walk in Their Shoes
by AnnaAza
Summary: Our beloved Gaang will be surmerged into another world, another doorway, another life. Tales are reincarnated and evolved. Requests are welcome.


**WALK IN THEIR SHOES**

_This is like Mer3girl's "Zutara: The Tim Burton Collection," but with other books, anime, movies, etc. I've seen. Requests are welcome. These will be primarily Zutara, but other couples (yes, **canon** couples, too) are welcome. The original scenes will be described, but the AUs will not be exactly like them. They will have the same idea, but everything else is completely/noticeably different._

_Happy holidays!_

* * *

><p><strong>Sacrifices<strong>

_Original scene: In _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and the manga, the famous scene for Roy/Riza fans. A gold-toothed doctor has captured the sacrifices to set loose a horrible man out into the world that will inevitably destroy it. The sacrifices have had performed the taboo of human transmutation, which has horribly backfired on them. Roy Mustang has been selected to be last sacrifice, but he refuses to do the forbidden deed, knowing that the world will be in chaos, and he will have to pay the toll for breaking the rules of alchemy. To force Roy to do this, the doctor slices Roy's lieutenant's throat with a sword. He and his friends are subdued and powerless as Riza falls to the ground, bleeding heavily from her neck. Roy then must make a choice to either save the person __most precious to him or to wreak havoc on himself and the world._

* * *

><p>The blood-red sky hung above them like a warning sign. Azula was on the roof, shooting calculated lightning bolts at her prey, who were preoccupied with lashing out their elements or weapons at the Fire Lord and his guards. Aang was easily able to leap onto the roofs to take Azula down, but was now in danger of being an easy target for the people below and by a lightning bolt to his chest.<p>

Katara rolled to avoid a fire blast from the guards, while Zuko somersaulted and parted his arms to dissipate an arc of fire, courtesy of his father. Toph was dealing with the Dai Li, lashing out with both her Earthbending and her new long chains that she formed into deadly weapons. She had ripped one of the grates from the palace's water sources to use as shields. Sokka and Suki were doing reasonably well holding off the guards. Suki would paralyze them when given a chance, which gave anyone a chance to knock them down.

It was almost impossible to get to Ozai, since his loyal guards and daughter kept the company busy. The battle was turning ugly on both sides, but Sokka tried to keep their spirits up.

"Come on, Team Avatar!" He grinned as he sliced through a battle axe with his space sword. "Ha! Swordbending slice!"

Just in that moment, Katara and Zuko bumped into each other while leaping backwards to avoid attacks. They turned to face another, respective elements held: a fire and an ice dagger. Zuko grinned in relief when he saw it was her, but was startled when Katara threw her knife at his neck. His heart sped up as it narrowly missed and struck an advancing guard behind him.

"That's seven for me, Prince Zuko."

"Indeed." He spun around to lash out with a fire whip. "It seems that we're tied, now."

Katara nodded at him, hair falling into her eyes and sticking to her face. "Indeed."

Zuko would have given her his trademark half-smirk, but he had to duck and roll to the left to avoid a lightning strike from Azula. The endless death dance's tempo was picking up. Aang seemed to disappear and reappear, his breath heavy and steps determinedly light as he leapt and tried to take down the Phoenix King and his daughter. Toph's attacks were rougher and quicker, not allowing for caution. Some Dai Li were struck and thrown in the air, eyes still wide in surprise. Sokka had lost his machete, but was holding off several soldiers with expert swings of his sword and quick thinking with his trusted boomerang. Suki rivaled even Ty Lee as she flipped and jabbed at as many enemies as she could.

But in one instant, the battle changed.

Katara was about to summon water from cisterns to launch at Ozai, but Azula had aimed her lightning at the puddle around her feet. The Waterbender gasped sharply, and Zuko immediately moved to strike his sister, but a sword sliced his upper arm. The guards tackled the twitching girl and the momentarily stunned prince. When Aang turned to look at his friends fall, Azula knocked him off the roof with a powerful wave of blue flames. He managed to catch himself partially in the air, but a fire whip wound around his ankle, and he was slammed into the ground, held down by ten guards. Sokka and Suki were quickly subdued, Sokka's weapons stripped from him and tossed into the wells. Toph was the hardest to defeat, but she was eventually brought down when Ozai managed to burn one of her feet while he leapt in midair.

They all struggled when their weapons: waterskins, swords, dagger, fans, and staff were taken away and were also tossed in the wells. Katara tried to get a feel of them, but one of the guards had her fingers in a death grip and a promise to break them if she fought. They were all brought down to kneel, and Zuko glared hatefully at his father when he approached them triumphantly. Azula stood confidently behind him, as if she had brought them all down single-handedly.

"So." Ozai sneered, turning finally to face the Waterbender. Katara dared not to flinch, to snow no fear, but once his hand went to her face, Zuko growled, "Don't touch her!" Sokka was currently cursing at them, threatening to cut off certain parts of anyone who laid a hand on his sister, but Ozai ignored him as if he were a troublesome child.

"Waterbender. Azula has told me much about your team. It seems that you, even though this little boy is the Avatar, that you are the most important in this little group. Did you notice everyone stopped when my daughter shocked you?" He chuckled at his pun. "Even my son, who never cared for anybody except his weakling of a mother—"

"You bastard!" Zuko hissed, blood trickling down his arm.

"I have calculated," Ozai continued. "that you are an essential part of this team here. So here's what we are going to do. You are going to kill the Avatar."

"I will never murder Aang!" Katara defiantly shouted, tossing her hair out of her eyes. "Torture me if you wish, but nothing will make me even hurt Aang!"

"I see. Well, now...that puts us at an impasse. But Azula has also told me that you value everyones' safety above your own. I could hurt the Avatar, but what's the use of you killing him if we accidentally end his life because of excessive torturing? The little Earthbender girl, perhaps. But her spirit is strong, and I'm in a hurry. The comet is ending soon, and I need to finish the mission. The Kyoshi girl seems weak, since my daughter was able to easily defeat her, so that won't be as much fun. No. We need someone you're very close to, and someone who can endure pain long enough for you to make a decision."

Sokka and Zuko tensed in preparation. They were drawn from the process of elimination. Zuko's mind raced. Ozai would know Sokka was her brother. But he would want to hurt Zuko more to teach him a lesson. He would hold a grudge of Zuko tossing his lightning back at him and throwing him against the wall. He needed Ozai to choose him. Sokka was incredibly brave, but he had more warrior training. He could last. He could distract his father like only Ozai's son could. Zuko looked briefly at Katara's widened eyes for courage and mustered up a fire breath that managed to singe Ozai's calf.

Ozai yelled out in anger and pain, and he whirled, just as Zuko hoped, towards him. Zuko counted silently in his head. He barely got to two when Ozai burned his arm, ironically causterating his sword cut.

"Zuko!" Katara tried to lunge towards him, but a guard painfully yanked her by the hair. "Zuko!"

Zuko fought not to cry out when heat struck him in the leg.

"Make your choice, Waterbender." Ozai cajoled. "My son has lost one eye. Does he need to lose another?"

"Don't touch him!" Katara tried to reach for him again, but was restrained by her forearms.

"Kill the Avatar. And don't try to think you can attack me when you deliver the blow to him. The guards will burn you to death in front of your already charred friends if you resist. Kill him."

"Katara...no!" Aang exclaimed. "Don't make Zuko suffer more! Just kill me. I'll be reborn. And you can win the war in my memory if you want."

"No!" Katara angrily yelled back at him. "I won't do it! To kill the world's last hope? To let you overrun the earth to be unstopped? To murder my best friend, my student, and my comrade? I made my decision, Ozai! I won't kill Aang!"

A crackling sound erupted just as Katara's shocked face turned towards Zuko. He clutched his bleeding stomach, twitching grotesquely, before he fell on his side.

"ZUKO!" she shrieked. Zuko was holding his wound closed with his hands, but blood still poured from him. "ZUKO! ZUKO!"

"Now, Waterbender." Ozai's snake-cougar eyes narrowed. "Kill the Avatar."

"YOU BASTARD." She could only watch as Zuko was roughly dropped at her feet. If only she could just touch him! If only a single finger was loose! It was agony to see him horribly clutching his stomach in immeasurable pain. "Zuko! Zuko! Open your eyes! Can you hear me? Zuko!"

"Now, I can help you. I will give you this—" he held up one of her waterskins that apparently had survived the purge. He had planned this, she dimly rationalized. It was a game. She had to win now, roll the dice. Choose. "If you kill the Avatar, I will give you this to heal Zuko. And he will be set free afterwards, and I will not harm a single strand of hair on his head. But you must pick quickly. He seems to be silent now. I wonder if he's succumbed?"

"No," Katara jumped and gasped when Zuko weakly rasped, "I will not die. Remember our promise...Tara."

Memories flashed through her mind. A gentle caress on her face. Locking fingers and hands. Whispering words of promise. One always with the other...she blinked back tears.

"Hmph! If it were that easy to not die because of a promise, it won't be as interesting, huh?" Ozai smirked. "Everyone will live without worry. Now, hurry up, girl. Your precious lover is dying. If you leave him, he will bleed to death or embrace the pain."

_Lover? Indeed, he is the man I love, but not..._

"No, Tara..." Zuko shook violently as the lightning ate away inside his body. "Do not do this for me."

Katara closed her eyes. _Zuko. Or Aang._ She tasted salt.

She heard faint tapping and looked up. Zuko seemed to be pounding out a rhythm to music, something like the Sun Warrior's dance. Katara let the tears flow. She had to hold on. For Zuko. If she was going to do it, she wanted to say something to him first.

"I like the color red. And your silken clothes and those horrible spicy things you call fireflakes." She took a deep breath. "And you, Zuko. I like you."

He smiled faintly at her.

"Pathetic. You choose when Zuko is dying to confess? How remarkably cliche."

"This isn't the first time," Katara said, talking cooly, taking courage from Zuko. "How would you know about love? You burned and banished your only son. You did who knows what to your wife. You took the throne from your brother. You can't even love your own daughter. How long will it take before you are displeased by her and dispose of her? I bet some of these soldiers here know others who have mysteriously disappeared when you decided that they weren't worthy."

"Is this speech supposed to prolong Zuko's life?"

"No." Katara raised her chin and locked eyes with him. "It's to prolong time."

Ozai's eyes narrowed further. "What are you—?"

A bang startled all of them, and when the dust cleared, Katara sighed in relief when the sight of familiar lilac robes with white flowers came into view.

"Iroh." Ozai hissed.

"Ozai." The White Lotus moved fast, throwing their weapons at the unsuspecting guards that held the group down. Katara grabbed an ice knife that sank into one of her guards' knee and stabbed it into the one on her right, smashing her knee into his stomach. She ignored their cries as she rushed towards Zuko. Azula's fire hurtled towards her back, but she turned it into steam. "Out of my way!"

"Zuko, Zuko, stay with me!" she hissed, coating her hands with water pulled out from her dropped waterskin that Ozai had abandoned to fight Iroh. She impatiently retrieved the weapons from the well and tossed them carelessly behind her before placing the water on Zuko's stomach. "Zuko."

She heard a thump behind her and turned quickly to see Pakku dispatch a soldier with one of his water tentacles. "You okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Katara quickly answered, before pushing her hands harder. "Zuko, please." He did not respond to her voice, nor her touch. In desperation, she sliced her calf with the dirty, tainted water and bent her blood onto his wound. The extra blood seemed to revive him, and she poured everything into his wound, drawing out the lightning and encouraging the wound to heal. She quickly sliced a small cut on the side of his stomach to give the lightning a place to exit from that wasn't blocked by her hands or water. All the while, she prayed to Yue.

For a wish you needed a trade. Of equivalent exchange.

"If you want an exchange," she murmured as she tried to expel the aftershocks of lightning. "take me."

Zuko moaned quietly as Katara's fingers tingled with the lightning fighting and hissing at her. She bit the inside of her cheek, quickly whispering, "He will be Fire Lord, the one who will bring peace to the Fire Nation. He will be remembered as the best ruler, the kindest and the most just."

Zuko's fingers twitched. He seemed to be reviving, wanting his spirit to be anchored to the earth, but she needed to encourage it to stay. Yugoda had told her that when bringing someone back from the threshold of life and death, they needed to be reminded of who they were.

"Prince of the Fire Nation, nephew to Iroh, future Fire Lord, master Firebender, son of Ursa, friend of Aang and Sokka and Toph and Suki...someone important...to Katara."

The water glowed, surging and seeming to sing beneath her palms as if giving a valiant, final effort.

Zuko's eyes opened, and the first snesation he felt was the crushing weight of Katara embracing him, tears staining his tunic.

"Oh, Yue!" she cried, holding his still-cold hands. She seemed unable to speak.

Zuko reached out to caress her cheek. _Katara..._

Suddenly his face reddened and stung. Startled, he looked up at Katara, whose face was livid.

"YOU IDIOT." she almost shouted, but restrained herself. To his surprise, she violently thrust a clawed hand into his hair and pulled him to almost bruise her lips with his. Zuko could have collapsed right there on the ground and would have been happy. This was first time they actually kissed, but before he could dive into an extensive, complicated web of thoughts, the kiss ended. Katara, exhausted and drained, leaned his forehead against his, whispering with her voice shaking, but with her lips in a faint smile. "You idiot."


End file.
